The Chosen
by rinkunokoisuru
Summary: When Solo is forced to leave home, he must find nine warriors destined to help him in his fight against the greatest evil the world has ever know, but will his meager strength be enough to keep him and his new friends alive? Rated T, just to be safe. Based off Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen by Square Enix.
1. The Peaceful Village

**AN: Alright, so my second fanfic, yay! :D This one is based off the amazing game, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen by Square Enix. So far it's looking like it's going to be a novelization of the game, with a few changes since I'm not using the game as reference and writing this as I remember them happening (or in some cases just flat out embellishing and adding where the game originally game no information). Anyway, I hope you enjoy! I spent four hours writing this, so I really hope you like this. I do not own any of the characters used within this work, aside from giving names to some of the NPCs.**

A shadowy figure stood before a great hole in the ground in the town of Mamon, which led to an ancient mine. He had long silver hair, crimson eyes, and skin as pale as bone. This man wore all black, except for a red sash and some rather grim accessories around his neck and upon his shoulder. He wore as well a fur-lined cape, partially for the extra warmth during times of cold, and partially because it was what his subjects had come to expect from their rulers over time.

"My Lord," a Skeleton Soldier exclaimed as it emerged from the mine, covered in dirt and other grime from below ground, "My Lord, we've found it! We've found the tomb of Estark!"

"Excellent. Begin the excavation of the tomb immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"And send for someone to overlook the project," the man said.

"But my lord, I thought that you had intended to watch over the project yourself," the soldier seemed confused.

"Well there's been a change of plans. I have other matters to attend to." Without even waiting for an answer, the demon lord turned and walked off into the mist of the night, with only the light of the stars to see by, not that he needed the light with his enhanced sight. He smirked as he neared the edge of the small mining town.

"Finally my plans will come to fruition," he thought. "Now to exterminate that so-called Chosen child and at last I will revive the demon lord Estark and destroy all of man-kind."

He let out a rather barkish laugh once he was a suitable distance from town, before casting Zoom and returning to Monster Hall to begin the search.

…

"Solo, dear, can you come here for a moment?"

"Sure thing mom," the green-haired child of about sixteen or seventeen said as he bounded into the kitchen to greet his aging mother.

"Would you mind taking this lunch to your father? He was in such a rush this morning that he must have forgotten it," she handed him a bag filled with food and went back about her business. "Oh, and don't forget to stop by the inn on your way home to ask Mr. Harrison what we missed at the last town meeting."

"Don't worry mom, I won't forget again," he said rolling his violet eyes, before turning and running out the door.

He stopped about ten feet down the road to take in a deep breath, reveling in the fresh mountain air. He looked around for a moment and saw a strange cart piled high with food, as if the innkeeper had needed extra for some reason, near the entrance to town. He decided soon enough that he definitely was not going to forget to stop by the inn this time, not when there were visitors, and visitors were something that the small town never got. Solo stretched one last time and bound off towards the river in the northern part of town. His father, an older man whose hair was still brown, though beginning to grey somewhat, was sitting on the banks as usual fishing for that night's dinner and to sell at the market this coming weekend.

"G'day son, what brings you over this way?"

"Mom said you forgot your lunch again, so she asked me to bring it to you."

"Well would you look at that? I guess I did forget it! Thanks Solo, my boy, I don't know what I would have done if I had to skip another meal today."

Solo smiled at that, "Not that you couldn't afford to lose some weight."

"True enough, true enough. Oh yes, Eliza was looking for you earlier. Something about some surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

"I don't know much about it, she just told me that if I saw you, you need to head over to the training room as soon as you can."

"Hm," Solo sighed, "She's always doing this. I promised mom that I'd stop by the inn, but I guess I'll go see what Eliza wants after that."

"Well I'll see you tonight then."

"You better catch plenty of fish," he laughed and started back to the other end of town where the small inn, which really was only used if something happened to someone's house, was located. Running at a good pace, Solo made it to his destination in only few minutes and strolled inside, greeting Mr. Harrison as he approached the counter.

"There you are Solo, my boy! We missed your family at the last meeting, what happened?"

"Dad was out in the rain again and got everyone sick. I'd have come to tell you sooner, but I kept forgetting to come by."

"Well I trust you're all feeling quite well again now. What brings you here today?" he asked, rubbing his fluffy slate beard.

"Well mom just wanted me to come by out find out if we missed anything."

Mr. Harrison stood for a moment, playing with his beard a bit more, as if contemplating something. "I can't right say that you missed much. We mostly just went over the same old laws as usual, though if I remember anything, I'll be sure to send someone over to let you know what I forgot.

Solo shrugged a bit, "Fine by me." He turned to leave and noticed that someone was sitting in the common area by the fire, apparently warming himself. "Say Mr. Harrison, who's that?"

"Oh him? He's just some bard what stumbled into town last night. He was right tired, and I couldn't just leave him out there for the wolves, so I brought him in and arranged for him to stay a few nights until the rest of his little musical troupe would be arriving in that big ol' castle Casabranca down by the ocean," he crossed his arms, discreetly wiping some nervous sweat from his brow. " He strikes me as nice enough, though there's something a bit off about him. Either way, he'll be leaving soon."

Just as Mr. Harrison finished talking, the bard looked back in their direction and smiled at Solo.

"Well don't be scared lad, I don't bite," he said with a singsong quality to his voice. "Why don't you come say hello to this simple traveling bard?"

Solo was getting a strange feeling from this man, though he couldn't decide if it was bad or good. Against his better judgment, he approached the man and stood beside him. Up close he could see that the bard had long silver hair, which was pulled back into a braid. Over his eyes he wore what looked like a red sweatband, so Solo determined he must be blind and had heard that he was inside rather than seen him. His skin was very pale, indicating that he rarely got any sun, and he was in clothes traditional for bards, though the colors were decidedly blacker than any other vestments Solo had ever seen for a traveling musician, not that he had seen more than just a few pictures in the books his parents kept at home. Slung across this stranger's back were a lute and a sword, and on his waist was a flute.

Solo was impressed, "So you play more than one instrument?"

"Oh yes, in my trade you have to skilled in any number of instruments. I unfortunately lost the rest of mine in the woods when I stumbled and fell into a ditch."

"Well you seem awfully capable to me, for a blind man that is."

"Ah, yes, well I'm not totally blind. I'm sure you have noticed my paleness. Really I am an albino. My eyes are very weak and bright lights are painful to look at, so I prefer to just cover them up. I usually rely on my hearing instead."

"That's pretty cool that you can do that. Well it was nice meeting you Mr. … I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Mansalere, Pizero Mansalere. It was nice to meet you too, Solo was it?"

"That's me alright," Solo said. "Well I hope I'll get to see you again before you have to leave. You're an interesting guy."

"Same to you," the bard said.

Solo smiled as he left, fighting to hold back girlish giggles at the thought that he had finally met an outsider. He quickly stopped by the house to let his mother know the news from Mr. Harrison and started north once more to the town cellar, or as it was usually known, the training room. Along the short walk he encountered his magic tutor, who was really a terrible teacher since he hadn't learned a thing. He saw a few of the other townspeople who had taught him various things over the years as well.

As he reached the bridge across the stream to get to the cellar, he saw a very large and very strange frog lying on the wooden planks. It seemed to be croaking something, but he was still too far away to hear, so he moved closer to the frog, treading lightly and carefully on the squeaking, old and rotten planks of the bridge.

"Please, please help me!" it croaked. "I am a princess, a princess that has been turned into a frog! You must kiss me and return me to my true form!"

Solo screwed up his face in disgust. Princess or no, and he seriously doubted it was one, there was absolutely no way he was going to put a frog to his lips.

"Please, oh please! Help me kind sir! Only a man as great as you can break this curse upon me!"

Now he knew it was all made up.

"Cut the act Eliza, this is ridiculous, I know it's you."

"Oh, you're no fun," she exclaimed as she morphed back into herself.

"Sure I'm not. I just know all your tricks."

"Hmph! Well it was still a good trick. I learned a new spell and I was going to scare you with it, but I guess that didn't work. And you wouldn't even kiss me, what kind of boy are you?"

Solo flushed, "That doesn't have anything to do with." He caught himself admiring her green hair, almost the same color as his own, and forced himself to look away.

Eliza chuckled, "If you say so."

"So was that all?"

"I guess so," she said jumping over the side of the bridge and splashing into the water. "You want to play in the water until dinner?"

Solo looked over in the direction where he knew his father was fishing, "Well dad doesn't really like it when we do because it scares the fish, but I guess it's okay so long as we stay over here."

"Yay!" she said and pulled him into the water with her.

…

That night, Solo was woken from sleep by a high-pitched scream. He scrambled out from under the covers and ran outside. Villagers were scrambling about and many of the houses were on fire. Everyone was in a panic, screams assaulting his ears from all directions. He took a few steps forward, only to fall back and land in the dirt. Sitting just a few feet away was his mother, face to the ground, a sword through her back. It looked to him like she'd stepped outside to investigate the commotion like he had and been immediately struck down.

Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to his feet to examine the corpse that he had once called mom. Before he could even get close though, his father grabbed his and he ran him to the north side of town.

"Wh-what's happening? What about mom?"

"Forget your mother."

"What?"

"I said forget her!"

Solo glanced behind as more tears rolled down his cheeks, staining his pajamas. "But mom…" Before turning back to face front he caught sight of the blind bard standing beside the fallen inn, smirking at the destruction. He pointed and several monsters carrying weapons and more torches rushed forth from the woods to destroy even more buildings and kill even more people.

"Dad, what's going on?"

He just kept running, "There's no time to explain right now. Eliza will tell you when we get you somewhere safe."

"What? Eliza? She knows about this."

"We all do. It was supposed to be a secret until you came of age, but no use in that now." He let go of Solo and roughly pushed him towards the waiting arms of the local sword master that he had been learning from all these years. "I'm glad I got to be your father, Solo," he breathed with sadness as he unsheathed a sword and ran back towards the flames, only to have his head smashed open by an axe before he even got in a single hit against an enemy.

Solo's tears began to fall even harder than before and he scream out as he saw his father hit the ground. He turned to face his master, his eyes pleading for an answer as to why this was all happening. No words were exchanged, but he gave him a sad look that said he wished it didn't have to be this way. This moment didn't last for long, however, as Solo was then roughly ushered down the stairs into the training room where Eliza greeted him.

The sword master left without a word, though it was obvious to Solo that he was prepared to die as well so long as he stayed safe.

"Eliza, what's going on?"

She took his hand gently and guided him to a hidden room. "I'm so sorry, Solo. I wanted to tell you so many times before now, but I couldn't. I just… I just couldn't."

"What? What did you want to tell me?" he asked as she led him to the corner and indicated for him to sit.

"We should be safe in here for now," she closed the door that they came through. "As for what's going on… I wish someone who knows more than me could have told you, but it looks like I'm the only one left.

"Solo, nobody ever told you this, but you are a very special child. Probably the most important in the whole world!"

"But that doesn't make any sense. I'm just a fisherman's son," he argued.

"No you aren't. You are the Chosen hero. This village was established shortly before your birth as a place to keep you safe until the evil you were meant to face arose. When you were born, you were brought here where the elderly couple you knew as your parents took you in, in your parents stead, and raised you."

"You… you mean they're not my real parents?"

"I'm afraid not," she said sadly. "We've known for years that the servants of the evil you must defeat would be looking for you and hoping to kill you before you became strong enough to kill their master, but we didn't count on them finding you so soon. You're not ready yet, but-"

She was interrupted by the increasingly loud sound of footsteps above. A worried look flashed over her face and she stood from where she'd been sitting beside you.

"Listen, Solo," she told him as quickly as she could, "even though you are the Chosen, you can't win alone. There are nine people in this world destined to help you. You must find them and grow strong. Once you are strong enough you absolutely must strike down the evil threatening this world."

"But why me?" he asked frantically.

"I'm sorry, there's no more time," she said casting her spell and assuming his form. She rushed for the door, but hesitated before opening it. "Goodbye, Solo."

He saw a few tears run down her face before she rushed out of the room to be greeted by death.


	2. The Night in the Woods

**AN: So second chapter, yay :) I'm sure you can tell that pretty much none of this actually happened in the game, but it helps to reveal character and expand upon things they don't tell you about. The story also includes some of my headcanons too as you can see, but I don't want to reveal too much before you actually read the chapter. This one isn't quite as long, but I tried my best to stretch it out. I hope you like it!**

Solo lay curled up in the corner of the stone room his face was completely soaked, and a small puddle had begun to form where his head met the ground. He had been there for several hours, listening to the sickening sounds of death above and the cracking fires burning down the town. Around the time he guessed it would have been dawn, were the sounds of cracking bones and celebratory screams proclaiming victory for their master. He couldn't quite catch the name, but he was too busy trying to keep himself together to pay attention anyway.

After a few more hours of being locked within that lonely stone room, Solo felt his stomach groan with displeasure, so he carefully inched the door open to ensure that all the monsters had gone. He quickly wished he hadn't and shut the door again, with near tears falling onto the ground. Lying in the middle of the room, in a thick pool of blood lay the mutilated body of Eliza. She still had his face, or what was left of it.

There was a long gash from ear to ear, across her neck; patches of hair were missing and strewn about the room, stuck to the wall in some places by drying blood. The clothes were completely soaked and browning from exposure to the air, and her limbs were bent at odd angles, except for her left arm – his dominant arm – which was completely gone. Her ribs were showing through her back like her front had been cut open and they were pushed through her back.

Solo, despite his grief for his friend, quickly realized that could have been him, and that they desperately wanted him dead, for whatever reason. He clamped his eyes shut and opened the door again, dashing through the room and up the stairs, trying and failing to ignore the feel of blood and other things he didn't even care to think about getting squished between his toes.

He emerged on the surface and took a deep breath, glad to be in the fresh air again, only to choke of the stench of death and smoke. Most of the buildings of the once peaceful village were now either completely demolished, or only a few boards and maybe a cloth remained. The grass was dead and most of the trees have been severely charred by the fires, even most of the bodies were gone, though there was evidence that they had been eaten, rather than burned. The sky was still filled with smoke, and although it was likely noon or later by that time, he guessed, it was as if the town was trapped in night.

"Hello?" he called, hoping someone had survived somehow and would answer him. "Is anyone there?"

There was no answer.

He wandered further into town, thinking that maybe someone was hiding. The once pure stream had been stained scarlet and all the fish were gone, the bridge had been burnt, so he had to wade through this filth, fighting to hold back more tears.

"They would have wanted me to be strong," he thought. "They knew this might happen, but they cared for me anyway. I must repay them somehow."

As he got closer to the center of the town, a small smile spread across his face. This place wasn't all dead, not yet. He ran to the little patch of green that had some how survived and collapsed upon it. Somehow, the grass and the flowers here had not died. He knew that once day this place would be habitable again. After what seemed like days, Solo slowly stood from where he'd fallen.

Just a few feet away, lying on some flowers was a little feather cap. It looked very much like the one that Eliza used to wear in the wintertime, so Solo picked it up and stuffed it into one of his pockets. He was sure all his all his clothes must have burned up in the fire, so he didn't even bother to check the remains of his house, it would have been too painful to return there anyway.

"I guess I'll just have to get some money somewhere," he sighed. "I bet there's some left in one of the houses if the monsters didn't take it all."

Solo walked around the remains of his childhood home, inspecting the various charred homes and eventually finding about four hundred gold that had been stuck under floorboards or buried and that the monster hadn't taken. He also found some boots that were in decent condition and put them on, screwing up his face at the unpleasant feel of the mud, or so he hoped, in the shoes. He was still forced to wear his pajamas since all the clothes had been burned up, but he decided he would buy something later.

"It's getting dark. I should get out of here just in case they come back."

He gathered the various items he'd deemed worthy of bringing with him and started walking away from the little spot of green. He looked back as he reached the edge where the village met the forest for one last look and forced himself to continue onward.

…

It was well past sunset when Solo finally stopped to rest on a rock. He was surrounded on all sides by tall trees and pitch-blackness. He had nothing with which he could start a fire, so he just sat there, holding onto himself to try to stay warm.

It was impossible for him to sleep. Every time he would close his eyes, the violent death of another loved one would flash before his eyes. His stomach was even more upset by this time, having had nothing to eat since the previous afternoon except for a few berries he'd found along the way that weren't even ripe and made him sick.

Solo jumped in surprise as he heard footsteps approaching from the south, and saw a prick of light. He scrambled behind a tree, holding his possessions closely to avoid them making any loud noises.

"They can't be out here looking for me, can they?" he thought to himself. "They think I'm dead."

He crouched low to the ground to avoid being seen and peeked to get a look at where the light was coming from. He let out a breath when he saw it was just an old man taking his dog out for a walk. He moved to get up and stepped on a fallen branching, making a small cracking noise.

"Who's there? What're you doing on my property?" the old man demanded from the darkness.

"Um, it's just me sir," Solo said, getting closer so that the man could see him.

"Who're you? I don't know of any other people who live round these parts."

"Oh, well I'm Solo. I came from that little village north of here, up in the mountains."

"There ain't no village up there. And what kind of a name is Solo? That's just silly."

"It's my name and I happen to like it! And there is so a village up there! Or there was anyway!" Solo exploded.

"Alright, calm down boy. If what you say is true, then what brings you all the way down here?"

"Oh well… the village was burnt down and I'm the only one who survived," he said choosing not to tell the whole truth to the old man.

"Well sorry about that kiddo. Hope you enjoy your stay in the forest and get off my property."

"Wait!" Solo pleaded. "Is there any way that I could spend the night with you? I have nowhere to go, no way to keep warm. I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday and I've been through a lot since then!"

"Fine, but you're leaving first thing in the morning," the man said harshly, but not without a twinge of sympathy.

"Oh thank you, thank you!"

"Shut yer trap. Come on, my dinner should be done by now, I guess I can share it with you," he said.

The strange old man and his dog, who had been anything but quiet once they started walking again, preferring to jump all over Solo like an old friend, led Solo back to a large clearing where there stood a sturdy log cabin with smoke rising from the chimney. Off to the side, Solo could see a shed, likely where the man kept all his tools or anything else he needed for outdoors. Though right in front of him was something he did not expect.

"Sir," he said, "what's that?"

"That's none of yer damn business! Now come on before me whole house burns down."

"Right, sorry," Solo stammered as the old man continued walking. He took a quick glance at the gravestone and stared down at his feet as he walked.

The man opened the door and slammed it in Solo's face. He stopped to rub his nose and opened the door to follow him. The inside of the house was nice enough. There were only two rooms, the kitchen and living area in one, and the bedroom in the other, though there wasn't a door and the two rooms were only separated by a wall. The insides were decorated with various plants, and a few rugs, and the old man even had what looked to be some very high quality drapes all things considered. Solo smiled sadly as he marveled at the room and how much it reminded him of home.

"Are you just going to stand there like an idjit, or are you going to come get your food?"

"Oh right, sorry," Solo said nervously. He went and took a seat at the table and the man set a bowl of fresh beef stew in front of him. "This smells delicious, sir."

"Thanks," he grumbled.

"If you don't mind my asking," said Solo as he scooped up some of the stew to put into his mouth, "I never got you name, what is it?"

"Sidney Seule, but don't call me by my first name if you got a lick of respect in you boy."

"Yes sir, Mr. Seule," he replied. "That's a coincidence though, my last name is Seule too."

"You don't say."

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, except for the time when Mr. Seule's dog decided to jump up on Solo's lap and nearly knock over the table. Instead of getting mad at the dog though, the blame was put on Solo, for letting the dog climb onto his lap.

After dinner, the old man made Solo clean all the dishes, which he was more than happy to do in exchange for being allowed to stay the night. He was also told to take the scraps and leftovers a safe distance from the house and dump them in the woods. On the way back, Solo stopped by the grave once more. He sat on his knees and read the marker.

"May they rest in peace," it read.

Below there were two names and dates. One belonged to a woman and one to a man.

The stone also read, "I will never forget my wife or my son who were so dear to me." This portion looked like it had been added after the stone was complete. Quietly, Solo reentered the house and made sure that he wouldn't do anything to upset the man for the rest of the night.

Just as Solo drifted off to sleep, Mr. Seule pulled a picture of his wife and son from a drawer and stared down at it.

"You're the spitting image of your father," he mumbled.

…

"Wake up you lazy bum!" Mr. Seule yelled from the kitchen. "It was dawn hours ago!"

Solo begrudgingly crawled out of the bed and fell onto the floor with a crash. He stumbled over to the kitchen, stretching along the way. The old man tossed a few pieces of toast his way and indicated the door.

"Well you can leave now, freeloader."

"Oh, right. Thank you, Mr. Seule."

"Don't mention it. Really."

Biting into the toast, Solo left through the door, slipping his shoes on outside, the insides newly muddy from the dew. Beside his shoes was a small sack, big enough to fit a few possessions, but not much else. On this bag there was a note scrawled in messy handwriting, which seemed very similar to the writing Solo had seen on the gravestone the night before. He read the note, a small smile spreading across his formerly grim visage.

"Dear Solo," it read, "I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time. This grumpy old man doesn't mean half the things he says. You're a real good kid, and whatever you end up doing from here, I wish you luck. Inside the bag are some of my son's old clothes; I think they'd suit you. You should head on south to Casabranca from here, you're likely to find many more opportunities there than in some dumb little town. Sincerely, Mr. Seule. Now get off my property."

Solo chuckled at the end of the note. He opened the bag to find a green tunic, a white shirt and pants, and a pair of Slime earrings. Solo quickly stripped down and put on the new clothes, glad to be wearing something warmer. He yelled thank you to Mr. Seule one last time and ran off into the forest.

He was going to go to Casabranca like the old man had said; maybe there he would find some people who could help him. Maybe there he could finally figure out what he was supposed to be doing.

He ran all the way until dusk when he finally reached the end of the woods, his face and hands covered in scrapes from his rush and clumsiness. From there he could see all the way to the ocean, and there on the coast stood the magnificent castle town of Casabranca. He guessed that it would take him another half day or so to get there.

So he continued on.


End file.
